These “sailing stones” are another great mystery of our time and a strange geological phenomenon. Found in a place called “Racetrack Playa” located in a lovely vacation spot known as Death Valley, near the western border of Arizona, the mysterious moving stones have been a center of scientific controversy for decades. An amazingly large number of stones in all shapes and sizes (some weighing up to half ton boulders) regularly travel by themselves, without human or animal intervention. So the big question is, just how do these mysterious stones move?

Sliding rock trails vary in direction and length. Some rocks which start next to each other start out travelling parallel, but one may abruptly change direction to the left, right, or even back the direction it came from. Length also varies because two similarly size and shaped rocks could travel uniform, then one could burst ahead or stop dead in its track. The furthest moved that was recorded in data is 880.73 miles. Leaving miles of zig-zagged, curved and straight tracks, these huge stones continue to baffle the scientific community. Even now, they are still investigating and trying to discover just how these rocks move. Currently, they are being tracked with GPS devices and satellite tracking.

There are many theories how these stones could possibly be moving, but a true answer has never been set in stone. Some scientists have proposed that a combination of strong winds and surface ice account for these movements. However, this theory does not explain evidence of different rocks starting side by side and moving at different rates and in disparate directions.

Another theory suggests that the phenomenon is actually caused by yearly rains that coat the lakebed, consisting of only a few inches at best, but aided by additional runoff from the surrounding mountainside. This water freezes during the harsh winter season, causing sheets of ice to form around the stones and drag them across the playa. This theory sounds logical, but can easily be throw out due to the inconsistency of the tracks left behind the sailing stones as they wander off in other directions, sometimes even crisscrossing, instead of moving parallel like they would have to for this theory to be proven correct.

Olympic National Park on Washington’s Pacific Coast offers 16 campgrounds!

Due to the bad economy in the recent years, there is a sudden interest in the great outdoor vacations. People who are worried about finances instead of staying at a fancy resort or a trip overseas, they prefer sojourning in the woods. As well as gas prices which are significantly lower than last summer’s may also be affecting decisions to hit the road.

Glacier National Park in the northern Rockies, which features the Trail of the Cedars!

Today in United States, in addition to Park Service properties, there are 5′800 campgrounds in national forests and glasslands. All 50 states have incredible park systems of their own, together offering 1′737 camping areas with almost 213, 000 sites, according to the National Association of State Park Directors. Campgrounds are fuller and booking reservations has gotten trickier. Besides many experienced campers booked five and six months ago, when many national park campsites went on sale. The good news for latecomers is that there is still plenty of room at campgrounds that take reservations, during midweek, when demand is lower.

Yellowstone famous for its geysers and roaming bison!

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona divided into two parts with two campgrounds!

I will lead on a journey through slow food and rapid development, just right in Phoenix, Arizona. Phoenix is a city of uniqueness of the horizon and desert light. This optimistic attitude, accompanied with the arid climate and low cost of living has brought many people to the Valley of the Sun.

The Phoenix metropolitan area is one of the fastest- growing areas in the United States. It’s a pity because the car is king there – driving is only way to move around in 9, 200 square miles region. In this world it’s hard to state the foot and the bicycle as much as the car.

Phoenix is a lesson in freeway nomenclature. The endless pavement and strip malls remind of a distant Los Angles. But there’s a beautiful iridescent horizon and a new light – rail system will soon take place and run.

But behind all these statements comes the good. There’s a quality cuisine, a thriving art scene and unique modern architecture. The creative landscape has three museum institutions. They have the Phoenix Art Museum, a wonderful new second edition, and the other museum SMoCA, which was transformed from a five-plex AMC theater to 20,000 square feet of gallery space. And you have the Nelson Fine Art Center that combines the hispanic character with rich collections of Arizona State University.

The city is a totally electric mix. There is Temple’s musical heritage with the Gin Blossoms. The arts are there. There’s also a place called Red Modern Furniture, which is a little tapas. The city also got Passage, a wonderful boutique that is just blowing everybody away. It’s the coolest fashion spot with a spectacular environment and stylish items. It’s amazing and it’s affordable, accessible and cool.

If you happen to be there on the summer hiking the loop trail around Piestawa Peak or the trail up Camelback Mountain. It’s a great way to see the prespective of the city. As well as biking on the canal system is another perfect way to glimpse a diversity of neighborhoods and history of the city. And at the end for gourmets audience – whenever you’re going to eat in Phoenix or just have a snack, a cocktail, it’s a fantastic experience.

The famed health spa/hotel has been designed in 1899 by Jacques Gros and has a perfect city location overlooking Lake Zurich and the Alps. The old hotel has been renewed as a modern luxury hotel by a famous team of professionals — architecture by London’s Foster and Partners, interior design by United Designers, also of London, and the spa concept by spa-industry visionary, Arizona-based Sylvia Sepielli.

The topmost, 4,300 square-foot Maestro Suite is designed by Herbert von Karajan. The sweeping two-level suite features red leather chairs, dark timbers, a circular tower dining room, pale-marble bathrooms with whirlpools and steam showers (and one with a sauna), massive windows and a lounge-style terrace.

The Swiss surrealist painter and sculptor Alberto Giacometti created the Carezza Suite on the top floor of the spa wing. The furnishings and its organic shapes give a peaceful lounge feel, intensified by the neutral colors and the modern fireplace. The two-bedroom suite has a living room, TV lounge and marble bathrooms.

The spa wing, the Masina Suite takes its inspiration from Giulietta Masina, actress and wife of Federico Fellini. Night-blue and soft white evoke a feel of elegance and smoky glamour. A large Fendi sofa and a flat-screen TV are perfect for film noir nights. Floor-to-ceiling windows add further drama. Orange sofas, dark wood panels and pink furniture adorn Suite 101 created to reflect the legacy of the Rolling Stones. The decor has a retro vibe and an edge with distinctive, casual luxury. The suite features a bedroom, living room, dining room, an ensuite kitchen and meeting room for 10.

Canyon Ranch is a stunning resort in Miami Beach, perched on the ocean, with expensive rooms, a sybaritic spa and a state-of-the-art gym overlooking blue-green water.

The photograph shows the beach outside Canyon Ranch, which opened in December. The other branches of the luxury spa resort are in the remote countryside of Arizona and the Berkshires. It boasts a sensual 70,000-square-foot spa “where body meets soul” (while money leaves wallet).

A soak in the hydrospa and a sprawl in a heated chaise lounge. The room service menu includes raspberry-vodka-and-hibiscus-tea martinis. Even in this new age of austerity, this is the least ascetic spa ever.

Room price at Canyon Ranch start at $350. A three-night stay booked before Jan. 31 includes a $300 credit toward spa treatments, which are $140 to $500 for a massage and $150 to $275 for a facial.

The picture displays Versace mansion on Ocean Drive, which is now a club and restaurant, known as Casa Casuarina. Tours are offered of Gianni Versace’s former mansion.

A tub in one of the guest suites at Casa Casuarina.

Utah is very appropriate place to find fast water. In the San Juan Mountains, the Animas River snakes along the Utah-Arizona border before pouring into Lake Powell. The river also follows the northern border of the Navajo reservation and shares much of the worthy red-rock scenery.

Today a dozen of rafters float the river between April and Octomber and thousands of camera- clicking tourists shoot them. In April, the river was clocking along at 4, 600 cubic feet per second. This makes the river one of the greatest hits album of southern Utah’s attractions.

Years ago some of the river’s first visitors were trappers and Mormon missionaries. After them were the gold seekers. As many as 200 gold miners a day swooped in during the 1890s, but the river’s fine-grain gold was too hard to collect. A few years later, geological expeditions scouted the river for a good spot to dam. Hardly Times!

You can bring the kitchen sink on a raft trip, because there is so much time for cooking and eating. Days on the river are windy but warm, with temperatures in the 70s. The water is as cold as the Atlantic in early summer. At night in the desert, the temperature plummets; in April, nighttime lows can reach freezing.

A three-day trip with Wild Rivers Expeditions (101 Main Street; Bluff, Utah; 800-422-7654;) costs $686 for adults and $584 for children age 12 and under.

Sedona is a city and community in the state of Arizona. If you ask five people about Sedona, frankly you’’ll receive five different opinions. Art lovers head around the galleries specializing in Southwestern tableaus. Shopaholics rave about boutiques selling Western duds and American Indian jewelry. Pessimists rue the rash of T-shirt shops, while enlightenment-seekers wax spiritual about its “vortexes.” And outdoor enthusiasts hike among red rock spires and ancient Indian ruin.

Sedona is also famous with its red rocks and towering crimson sandstones like Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, Coffee Pot Rock and the Cockscombe. But the good food can be found very difficult in Sedona, that’s why the upscale El Portal inn is a godsend.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, the inn opens its doors to nonguests, who can dine on creative Arizona-accented cuisine under a courtyard bower or by a flickering fireplace made of large river rocks, depending on the season. Reservations are highly recommended.

A prickly pear margarita — made from a local cactus — is the must-drink cocktail in Sedona, and one of the best spots to try it is the terrace at Tii Gavo at Enchantment Resort.

If you prefer to staynear the nature, pack your own picnic and set out on the 3.6-mile Broken Arrow Trail Hike along red rocks stained with desert varnish, weave through cypress forests and climb up a doughlike outcropping for commanding views of Casner Canyon.

Enchantment Resort

The resort offers 236 guest rooms, of which 120 are suite, all casitas offer casual sophistication with Southwest interiors in rich earth colors. Every room has a deck for viewing the beauty of Boynton Canyon, coffee maker, safe, high-speed Internet access, in-room movies, hair dryer and morning orange juice delivery. 5100 square foot ballroom with additional indoor and outdoor meeting space for corporate and incentive programs. Professional staff of Group Sales Managers with Catering and Conference Services. Mii amo, a destination spa at Enchantment offers mind and body wellness services inspired by the spiritual and cultural nature of Sedona.

Guest activities included:
* Complimentary yoga, relaxation & meditation, cardio sculpting, stretch class, tai chi/chi kung, nature walks, wilderness ranger talks, stargazing with an astronomer, pitch & putt tournament, round robin tennis mixer, free junior tennis lesson, croquet & bocce tournament, and sunset concert with flutes, didgeridoo, and sounds of nature.

* Concierge-arranged red rock jeep tours, horseback rides, cowboy cookouts (jeep or horseback), ancient ruins jeep tour, private and scenic vortex guided hikes, astrology charts, private Hopi Indian Reservation tours, Grand Canyon & Verde Valley train rides, scenic air tours, sunrise balloon rides with champagne breakfast, helicopter tours, and raft trips.
* Camp Coyote Children’s Program (ranked in the top 20 children’s programs in the world by Robb Report)
* Spa fitness room, saunas, whirlpools, steam rooms, eucalyptus inhalation rooms, and treatments (at the spa or in your casita)
* Tennis (lessons, host hitting, ball machine, match making service)
* Mountain Bike Rental.

2. The Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
Garish but great fun, The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo is the mother of all themed hotels. It boasts 109 rooms, every one of them individually decorated. Try the Caveman Room, all rock and animal prints, or the Bridal Falls, which features a huge stained glass window and a massive waterfall shower. There is a room with a stuffed buffalo head hanging above the bed, and one with a miniature mill structure. The Madonna Suite is another extravagant option, although newly-weds might prefer the aptly named Just Heaven or Cloud Nine rooms. For those not staying, dinner in the completely over-the-top bright pink Steakhouse is the next best thing. Some of it is a bit dated now (the hotel opened over 45 years ago), and it’s not exactly what you would call good taste, but there is no doubt the designers had a ball working on this one. (website: www.madonnainn.com)

3. Hydropolis, Dubai, UAE
Think of hotels in the UAE and quite a few superlatives will spring to mind. This tiny Gulf country is home to some of the world’s most spectacular hotels: there is the Burj al Arab, the only 7-star hotel in the world; The Emirates Palace, the most expensive hotel ever built; and (currently under construction) the Burj Dubai, which will be, when completed, the tallest skyscraper on earth. Hydropolis, the world’s first underwater resort, however, promises to be in a class of its own. Inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, it is a huge engineering achievement, and the ultimate underwater fantasy for the 21st century. (website: www.crescent-hydropolis.com)

4. The Witchery, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Located in a historic building at the gates of Edinburgh Castle, The Witchery (so named because of the many hundred who burned as witches on the Castlehill in the 16th and 17th centuries) is the perfect place for a romantic weekend away. ‘Theatrical’, ‘gothic’, ‘decadent’, ‘sexy’, ‘magical’… There is no shortage of adjectives to describe this atmospheric hotel, which has won a host of awards. The rooms are all lavishly decorated, with warm oaks and rich velvets featuring prominently, and each houses unique antique pieces. The bathrooms too have to be seen to be believed: the one in the Old Rectory boasts gothic ceilings, marble floors and a bathtub for two. Be warned though: there are only seven suites and they get booked up months in advance. (website: www.thewitchery.com/accom.html)

5. The Asakusa Capsule Hotel, Tokyo, Japan
Unique to Japan, capsule hotels offer businessmen who have missed their last train home a place to crash for a few hours before going back to work. They are not for the claustrophobic – you sleep in a capsule averaging 1m by 1m by 2m (3ft by 3ft by 6ft) alongside another 20 or 30 people, whom you will hear cough, snore or shout in their sleep. The capsules are surprisingly comfy though. Just remember to switch your mobile off and leave your smelly trainers in your locker. The Asakusa Capsule Hotel in Tokyo is one of only a handful that accept women. (website: www.asakusa-capsule.jp/english/)

6. Fur’n'Feathers, Queensland, Australia
Stay in a tree house for a few days. Located on the Atherton Tableland in Northern Queensland, only 90 minutes from Cairns, Fur’n'Feathers is a 100-acre private eco wildlife sanctuary hidden in the middle of the rainforest. Lush vegetation and a fantastic array of Australian animals draw wildlife enthusiasts, who come here to spot the weird looking platypus and the elusive cassowary, as well as possums, tree frogs, tree kangaroos, bandicoots, parrots and more. (website: www.rainforesttreehouses.com.au)

7. Gamirasu Hotel, Cappadocia, Turkey
It can get hot in Cappadocia in summer, and bitterly cold in winter. The answer to these extremes of temperature? Go under. The locals have been living in cave houses for centuries: insulated by volcanic rock, the rooms, carved in the cliffs, are a pleasant 17-20°C (62-68°F) year round. The Gamirasu Hotel near Urgup is an exquisitely restored 18-room cave house located in a former Byzantine monastic retreat (part of the hotel was used by Christian monks until recently): just make sure you don’t get lost in this underground warren if you’ve had a few drinks with your meal. (website: www.gamirasu.com)
8. The Shady Dell, Bisbee, Arizona, USA
Fancy a step back in time? Rewind back to the 1950s at the Shady Dell in Bisbee, Arizona. This trailer park opened in 1927 to cater for travellers of Highway 80, which stretched from San Diego to Savannah. And 80 years on, the same old retro trailers are still there, shiny chrome and all, for the delight of vintage fans. Some even have original black-and-white TV sets and phonographs with a selection of vintage records, and there is also a 1957 Valentine 10-stool diner on site. (website: www.theshadydell.com)

9. The Fox Hotel, Copenhagen, Denmark
Trendy types on a budget will love the Fox Hotel in Copenhagen. Staying here is a bit like being locked in an art gallery after hours. Decorated by a group of 21 young artists who were pretty much given carte blanche, the hotel’s rooms have been furnished in different ways and with different styles – there is one inspired by a 1960s thriller, for example, while another has been decorated in the Japanese Manga style. (website: www.hotelfox.dk)

10. Celica Hostel, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Celica might be a hostel, but is fast becoming one of the most popular bedding options in Ljubljana. The former military barracks, built during the reign of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were occupied by various military forces for over a century before being demilitarised after Slovenia’s independence in 1992. A group of local artists then took over and did the place up. The 20 prison cells do have bars on the windows and doors, although the staff are a lot friendlier than the warders of yore, and you are free to escape any time to check out the sights of the picture-perfect Slovene capital. (website: www.souhostel.si)

In your room: Luxurious, soft-textured Frette linens and robes, Exclusive Erno Laszlo signature in-room amenities, Slippers, In-room coffee service, Designer furnishings customized for comfort, Roomy desk with comfortable chair, Oversized chairs and sofas, Hair dryers, AM/FM radio, Alarm clock, Dual-line phone, Voice-mail, Dataport, CD player, 32″ remote control, elevision, DVD rental, Iron and ironing board, In-room private bar, Newspaper delivered daily, Nightly candlelight turn-down service, In-room massage available.

Elements has changed the view on dining in the Valley. Nestled exclusively on the North slope of Camelback Mountain, elements offers a breathtaking view of Paradise Valley, a premiere enclave of Scottsdale, Arizona. Executive Chef Charles Wiley presents his signature cuisine with an emphasis on fresh, local and seasonal ingredients. Selected as one of “The Ten Best New Chefs in America“ by Food & Wine Magazine, Wiley has earned international acclaim for his innovative cuisine.

ACTIVITIES

On-site: A vast infinity-edge resort pool (the largest in Arizona), 25-yard outdoor lap pool, 2 heated mountainside swimming pools, 5 championship tennis courts, Spa/Fitness.

Nearby: Golf courses, Hiking trails & nature walks, Bicycling, Desert horseback riding, Desert jeep rides, Hot air ballooning, Visit prehistoric Indian ruins, World-class shopping, Art galleries / museums.

SPA & FITNESS

Sanctuary Spa – 12,000 square foot indoor and outdoor Spa. State-of-the-art fitness center, weight room and movement studio.

An intimate retreat, Sanctuary Spa offers a menu of Asian-inspired treatments in 14 indoor & outdoor treatment rooms. Enhanced by modern architecture and the breathtaking setting, the Spa’s relaxing meditation garden, reflecting pond and Watsu pool provide a tranquil experience. Spa services and classes in the state-of-the-art fitness center and movement studio include Pilates, meditation, Yoga, fitness & nutrition consultations, and more.

AREA ATTRACTIONS

Camelback Mountain hiking – adjacent
Scottsdale Fashion Square – 3 miles
Old Town Scottsdale – 4.5 miles
Biltmore Fashion Park – 5 miles
Phoenix Zoo – 8 miles
Heard Museum – 10 miles
Phoenix Art Museum – 10.5 miles
Taliesin West – 14 miles